Book Review

Batman: Arkham Origins
Signature Series Guide

Bring Gotham City’s most vile villains to justice, with the help of BradyGames's official strategy guide for Batman: Arkham Origins. Receive game-tested strategies to take the best route through each area and make the best use of Batman’s abilities and gadgets. Coverage of every side mission and challenge is addressed in detail for 100% completion. The guide is packed with area maps that help navigate the way through each area. Plus, detailed multiplayer strategies will help punish the competition. Help Batman overcome all of the dangerous traps that have been set for him in his journey to discover the truth...

It doesn't matter how well researched a guide book is, it's only as good the game it's designed for. In the case of Batman: Arkham Origins..., well, there's not much to challenge the old grey matter. For me, guide books serve one of two purposes: To help you when you're totally stuck and have no idea what to do; or to help you track down hidden items and hidden areas that you might otherwise miss.

It's probably something to do with my age, but I grew up with the 48K Spectrum and if you wanted to complete a game you had to work hard for it. There was the odd tip and cheat in magazines like CRASH, but as a rule you were on your own - or swapping tips with your friends. My son grew up on the PS1/2 and used to seek out cheats wherever he could. For his generation, a guide book has almost become something you follow as you play the game.

This book is 290 pages and obviously the majority of it deals with the main campaign. The text is simple to follow, and there are plenty of screen grabs to help you get your bearings.

If you're thinking of buying this at the same time as the game I'd strongly advise waiting a while - you might discover that you don't actually need the book at all unless you're committed to completing all of the side missions and playing through as quick as you can without stopping and thinking for a minute how to puzzle it out yourself. While the game is enjoyable, it's not really very taxing and so, unlike 2011's Arkham City, where the guide book was essential for completing The Riddler's traps, this time around the book will simply walk you through the campaign (but the game practically holds your hand in that department anyway) and side missions as well as giving you some pointers on the online play and combat.

While you can't fault the publishers of this guide... the fact that there's very little that you won't be able to accomplish on your own makes this book a little redundant. For the handful of things you may get stuck on... there's YouTube and lots of online gaming forums.

7

Darren Rea

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